tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91276411582154631292019-01-01T11:00:03.755-06:00Missionary Baptist DevotionalsReprove, rebuke, exhort.
Justin Gatlin's Blog, pastor of <a href="alvinmbc.com">Alvin MBC</a>.Justin Gatlinnoreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-5178846719533819972018-11-16T23:08:00.003-06:002018-11-17T17:05:03.622-06:00MBA of Texas, 2018This last week, the messengers of the Missionary Baptist Association of Texas met. Each church is independent, but we voluntarily send in offerings to support missionaries, and meet together to discuss things of mutual concern. In the MBA of Texas, we do not pay the salaries of missionaries, but instead allow a sending church to request a monthly amount of help for their church plant, which is Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-70975443185910859272016-09-20T09:49:00.000-05:002016-09-20T09:49:41.868-05:00Some Principles of Fasting
From Think Radiant
There is no one place that spells how to fast out, which is certainly one of the reasons we have been reluctant to teach on it. But, the Old Testament didn't give much instruction on how to pray, just examples. People knew what the word meant. Jesus, in the New Testament, deepens the teaching on prayer, but doesn't change the essential definition of talking to God. In theJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-83697212657899601012016-09-18T22:41:00.000-05:002016-09-18T22:41:04.001-05:00Introduction to the Beatitudes
Blessing
What comes to mind when you hear the word "bless"? Maybe a pious "have a blessed day," or "How are you?" "I'm blessed!" We have a sense in those cases that it means something like "good." When someone sneezes, we might say "God bless you!," hoping, through various traditions, that the sneeze does not fortell greater harm. So great is the power of "bless," that it can turn an insult Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-87375793796370908972016-08-12T09:59:00.001-05:002016-08-12T14:51:37.788-05:00Joab for President
King David was Israel’s must illustrious leader; flawed in
many ways, but fundamentally a man after God’s own heart. He was an effective king,
but also constantly fighting against the consequences of his own mistakes. One
recurring source of heartache was the commander of his army: Joab.
Joab was a
positively vicious man: he murdered another commander, Abner, in an act of
revenge; he Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-32265793601171255912016-04-04T12:31:00.004-05:002016-04-04T12:44:34.991-05:00By His Stripes
1.) Right click on the word "healed" in Isaiah 53 and select the Hebrew lemma (this will find all of the grammatical forms of that word, no matter how they are translated in English) on the right click menu.2.) Left click on "Bible Word Study" in the menu that popped up.
3.) Scroll down to "Clause Participants" on the Bible Word Study window (although you may find the pie chart of the ways Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-16420555789875626142015-11-30T21:24:00.004-06:002015-11-30T21:27:04.073-06:00Taxes and Churches
A friend who likes to keep me on my toes brought this meme to my attention last week with the question "Can you not recognize the outcry?". The answer to his question is a resounding yes. I do recognize the outcry. Maybe, as a Christian who thinks that the honor of Jesus is the most important thing, I feel people promoting themselves and using Christianity as a pretense more poignantly Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-40129177032014978242015-11-17T09:40:00.001-06:002015-11-17T09:51:12.769-06:00The Refuge and the refugee
Putting yourself first is antithetical to Christianity. In what may be Jesus' most famous parable (Luke 10:25-37), He describes a man laying on the side of the dangerous road to Jerusalem, left for dead, as a priest and a Levite walk by. They walked by because on this road, people were known to pretend to be hurt so their friends lying in wait could take advantage of your distraction and rob Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-43365995071456721452015-04-10T22:07:00.002-05:002015-04-10T22:07:52.152-05:005 Attributes of Punishment, pt 1
This is a follow up post to 7 Things Accomplished on Easter.
When Jesus died on the cross, many things
took place. There are several explanations in the Bible for Jesus' death, not
to be harmonized and condensed, but to be understood as explaining separate
aspects of His work. In his book Christian Theology, Millard Erickson lists
five different theories of the atonement:
"The Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-19257844628422116712015-04-03T19:42:00.000-05:002015-04-03T19:43:22.440-05:007 Things Accomplished on Easter
As we approach Easter and the celebration of our Lord’s
Resurrection, l would like to share 7 things accomplished when Jesus rose from
the dead (largely spurred from studying I. Howard Marshall’s book: Aspects
of the Atonement).
1. Easter Confirms Jesus’ Teaching
Acts 2:22 says that Jesus proved who He was by signs and
wonders. Throughout the Old Testament, there was a two pronged Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-45102569711775339952015-02-07T16:12:00.004-06:002015-02-07T17:44:55.967-06:00This Do in Remembrance of Me
This Sunday, February 8th,
our local church will be partaking of the Lord’s Supper as the climax of our
evening worship. This Supper will be open for observation to anyone wishing to
attend, but participation will be only for members of our local fellowship in
good standing.<!--[if !supportFootnotes]-->[1]<!--[endif]--> Guests, even members of sister churches, will not be allowed to participateJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0198 Cedar Drive, Richwood, TX 77531, USA29.0561238 -95.41018389999999329.056069800000003 -95.410262899999992 29.0561778 -95.4101049tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-21846560541369522222014-04-05T19:01:00.000-05:002014-05-16T19:02:10.756-05:00Perspective
Last time we looked at our friend Job, Eliphaz had been
rebuking him with a very compelling theology. In Eliphaz’s mind, good things
happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. God is just, so the
innocent never suffer. Job should identify his sin, repent, and ask God to
forgive him.
The problem, as we have seen over and over, is that
Eliphaz’s theory of how the world works is Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-70892520710010252822014-04-04T18:40:00.000-05:002014-04-07T18:41:16.300-05:00The Scales of Justice
As we continue our journey through the book of Job, we come
to the first speech of Job’s friends. The three of them have sat in silence for
a week, and have waited for Job to speak. When he did, what they heard bordered
on blasphemy, so one of them responded. Before you are too critical of his
friends, imagine what you would say if you heard someone say the things Job
said in the previous Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-81921247147017084852014-04-03T18:01:00.000-05:002014-04-07T18:01:20.292-05:00Why?
So far in Job, we have seen a great man come crashing to his
knees through no fault of his own. He has lost everything: property, children
and health. Even his wife has betrayed him. He is now surrounded by three
friends who have not spoken a word to him, sitting with him as a quiet comfort
in his grief. If you have missed any of the segments leading up to this, I
highly recommend you go backJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-82090631252000134622014-04-02T22:32:00.000-05:002014-04-03T12:23:49.072-05:00The Long Night
A few days ago, we were introduced to a man named Job,
caught in the middle of a cosmic drama. He was a righteous and wealthy man (the
way we expect things to be, where good things happen to good people) and was
quite content in his life. Then, behind the scenes, we come into contact with a
God who does not always behave the way we expect Him to God challenged Satan,
who had been out temptingJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-30917336604359486812014-04-01T18:28:00.002-05:002015-01-07T09:26:59.722-06:00Round One
Yesterday,
we came crashing into a God who does not meet our expectations. He behaves
freely, and allows Satan to attack the possessions of a man who has done
nothing to deserve it. I am not sure if this is comforting but not satisfying
or satisfying but not comforting. But we must come to grips with the reality
that God is a person, and He will make decisions which will defy Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-56182884518486280572014-03-31T22:50:00.002-05:002014-03-31T22:50:40.282-05:00Behind the Curtain
Today,
we are going to begin a journey through the book of Job, which I intend to
write on every day until it is finished. I have had the purifying experience
lately of seeing several people who I care deeply for go through difficulty and
experience apparent separation from God. I will be writing through this for one
of them in particular, for anyone else who finds it helpful,Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-69832203388892411802014-03-02T17:15:00.001-06:002014-03-03T15:19:48.683-06:00Unloved
Our
society is contaminated with people who feel unloved, unwanted and unvalued. This
plague is especially evident in the huge number of dead-beat dads Consider this
data on single mother homes: “Official
U.S. data shows that 63 percent of youth
suicides (5 times the average), 70 percent of youths in state-operated
institutions (9 times the average) and 85 percent of Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-49339062627329780622014-02-26T19:53:00.000-06:002014-03-01T19:53:58.382-06:00Bad Plans
13 If
I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy
gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If
I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not
love, I gain nothing.
(1 Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-25298620091080791672014-02-24T21:43:00.003-06:002014-02-24T21:43:27.374-06:00Love and Loss
13 If
I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy
gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic
powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If
I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not
love, I gain nothing.
(1 Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-63637883604235888242013-04-18T15:15:00.001-05:002013-04-18T15:15:28.558-05:00He Gives More Grace
This is the second part of a series on James. Read part 1.
Before we really dig into James, I want to put the big picture together for you.
James is a book of the Bible for Christians who are fed up with Christians.If you are tired of people who talk a big game but have no spiritual life to back it up, of people who say they love Jesus but show they do not love the poor or the downtrodden andJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-11775622291574684362013-04-17T22:18:00.001-05:002013-04-17T22:18:46.738-05:00A Servant of GodThis is the first part in a series on the book of James.
How do you define yourself?
If you were writing or speaking to a group of people who did not know who you were or anything about you, and you had only a few seconds to sum yourself up, what would you say?
I was faced with this question yesterday when I finally broke down and decided to try Twitter (@JustinMGatlin) and needed to write a Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-20602442484154661732013-04-16T14:32:00.000-05:002013-04-16T14:32:02.910-05:00When Trouble Comes
As we look with awe on the bombing of the Boston Marathon
yesterday, we are faced with a powerful question: Why? In the minds of people
around the world, that very question burns hot and focused around tragedies
such as this and provides a real barrier to a walk with God.
The problem goes like this. If God is all powerful and God
is all loving, why do bad things happen? If God can Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-21922367059713777062013-03-27T01:58:00.003-05:002013-03-27T02:14:01.258-05:00Sovereign, Eve of Easter part 2Read: Matthew 26-28
Imagine, as you read today's text, the power of God working in all that takes place. When Judas is caught up in sin, it is about the victory of Jesus. When the priests and the governors are wicked (if they have any backbone at all), God has still placed them in power. When Peter denies Jesus, it is because God has allowed it. Marvel for a moment at the incredible sovereignty Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-1818423022486410742013-03-26T00:02:00.000-05:002013-03-26T00:02:36.026-05:00Kiss the SonRead: Psalm 2
As we draw toward Easter, it is precious to reflect on what the Bible has to say about the sacrifice and triumph of Jesus. In Psalm 2, we have a prophetic glimpse into that which is worth our attention.
I will not go into depth on this psalm at this time, I simply want to repose the question from verse 1.
Why are the people of the world trying such a futile thing, trying to removeJustin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9127641158215463129.post-28038612351867445882012-09-13T23:44:00.005-05:002012-09-13T23:48:15.327-05:00Follow Me! Alone
Read: John
21:18-25
This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And
when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
John
21:19, KJV
This
command Jesus gives is one of urgency, to be sure – nothing is more
important. It is a command of difficulty – it is never easy to
follow another faithfully, when our own heart leads with such pride.
But, in addition to these Justin Gatlinhttps://plus.google.com/109967403918315727724noreply@blogger.com0